A Slayer Christmas
by Adder007
Summary: Christmas Fun with Xelloss, Filia, and Zel. Please RR!
1. Xelloss

Disclaimer: I don't own slayers, I didn't make up the characters, etc.

Title: A Slayers Christmas

Note: Okay, yeah, I know, in the Slayers world there isn't Christianity (as far as we know), so please forgive me, but the idea came to my head, and I just had to write it. We'll assume that it's a holiday whose origins were lost in the mists of time, and the holiday has continued without the religious aspect. My apologies to those who take offence.

Rating: Eh, G-PG, same content that happens in the series basically.

Date: Somewhere around their equivalent of December 20th

"Ah….". Xellos sighed as he read the town news. The Obituaries were always nice to read, such lovely despair and suffering . . . Some one attacked by wolves in the forest. . .man falls off a cliff. . .such delightful misery.

The group had stopped at the town for the night, since it was in the middle of winter, and also because Lina absolutely had to stuff her face. Gourry and Zelgadis didn't even want to think of the amount of hunting they'd have to do, and in the snow, to satisfy her cravings. Based on the sounds coming from the dining room of the inn, and the waiter going by with 5 plates precariously balanced on a tray, she was still at it. He put down the news and grabbed his cloak and staff. The reading had given him and itching to go mischief making, something the great trickster was all too good at. He thought, "Perhaps I'll "accidentally" spook a horse and sleigh and give the riders a real ride. Yes. . .that will be fun…" He headed towards the door. Just as he got there, there was a knock. Probably just another person looking for a place to spend the night. He opened the door and was just about to step outside when….

"JOY TO THE WORLD! THE LORD HAS COME!"

Xellos fell to the ground as if someone had knocked the wind out of him.

"Curse this time of the year!" He thought. After reading the obituaries, he'd completely forgotten the holiday that came during the winter. . .Carolers, people giving, loving, sharing, caring. . . it was sickening. And now as the Carolers continued their song, he felt as though he was going to drown in the despicable joy emanating from them. . .they weren't even getting frostbite or chapped lips! Not a single thing to ruin their time! Why him? Other Mazoku never had to deal with this...

"LET HEAVEN AND NATURE SING! LET. . ."

Despite the fact that someone had fallen right as the opened the door, the carolers kept singing. Xellos was having a hard time even moving now. He slammed the door shut in their faces. For a moment he almost though it was over. . .but no! They had stepped over to the main window of the dining room and even from here that infernal singing could be heard. . .this was worst than Amelia! Over the time he'd spent with them, he'd built up a resistance to that annoying brat, but faced with a dozen or so people being that happy, it was just too much. "Must. . . find. . . negative. . . emotions," thought Xellos as he limped along, using his staff for support.

"JOY TO THE WORLD, OUR SAVIOR HAS COME. . ." echoed from the dining room. The worst part was, most of the diners were enjoying it, resulting even more happiness emanating from the area. Xellos collapsed at the base of the stairs, twitching in agony as he rolled over onto his back. He was going to have to do something soon or this was going to be a serious problem. Suddenly, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. "Who. . ." muttered Xellos, but then immediately recognized the long blonde hair and white dress. Filia! Xellos particularly enjoyed annoying her. Her rage was so sweet to savor. And she was actually quite beautiful and. . . "No" thought Xellos. "I am Mazoku, feelings like that are silly". At this time she was walking right down the stairs, not seeming to notice him. She actually walked right over him, giving him quite the view up her dress. As usual, Mace-sama, that club he'd been on the receiving end of so often was hanging at her thigh, her tail was curled around her waist with its usual pink bow and. . . she stepped right on his face. "What?" She said, confused, then caught sight of him lying on the ground. "Oh! Xellos, are you alright?". "Just peachy….stupid carolers…" he groaned. "Oh, well, I like them!" said Filia with a cheery voice and smile. He decided that she must like irking him almost as much as he loved annoying her. . . time for payback. . . and delicious anger. "I see that you decided to wear the blue underwear today…it goes with your ribbon nicely"

It took about a second for things to register in Filia's mind. Her cheery look immediately turned to rage and almost quicker than the eye could see, Mace-sama was in her hands. With a yell of "NAMAGOMI!" she smashed him with the spiked club, sending him smashing through the door, across the street and into a snow drift. His head was throbbing from the blow, but physical pain he could take. Her anger had helped him recover from the carolers, who had thankfully moved on after seeing a purple haired man go flying across the street after getting smashed through a door. And to top it off, his assisted flight had spooked a horse and sleigh, which was now speeding down the street, people diving out of the way and the riders holding on for their life. . . nice. He stood up, brushing snow from his cloak. Filia wasn't all that bad at times…

"Oh mister Xellos!" a familiar high-pitched voice called from across the street.

No. . . not her. Not now. . . of all the people he didn't want to see, it had to be her. Amelia came running across the road to where he had pulled himself out of the snow. Her cheeriness was already starting to make him feel nauseous again. Then he spotted the patch of ice right in front of her. . . a little magic to slightly melt it, making it slippery, and. . .

Amelia hit the ice at full tilt, lost her balance, and with arms flailing sailed right past Xellos, who had stepped out of the way, (He could have caught her, but where would the fun have been in that?) and into the snow drift he'd so recently visited. With a muffled thump the snow drift collapsed on top of her, leaving her sputtering and yelling for help as she tried to dig herself out. He stood there watching, and after a while decided to help her out (he could have more fun with her later). "Oh! thank you mister Xellos!" she exclaimed, trying to get all the snow off of her. He didn't reply, just keeping that smile and closed eyes expression that was so familiar. "Don't you just love this time of the year?!" she continued. "All the sharing, love, the joy. . . " He twitched. Maybe he should have left her in the drift. . . "What, don't you think so?" "Forgive me Amelia," he said, "but this isn't exactly my thing. I am Mazoku, remember." "Oh really?" She contested. "Don't you demons have any holidays? What do you usually do during these times?"

He waggled his finger "That, is a secret" and with that, he teleported off. He had other things to do that were certainly a lot more fun than talking to the annoying little princess.

TBC?


	2. Filia

Disclaimer: I don't own slayers, etc. etc.

Sorry this took so long, I had to watch a few episodes of Try again before I got any ideas. Please, R/R, and also, tell me what you'd like to see next, or which character. Thanx!

A Slayers Christmas, Filia's turn!

As she entered the Dining room of the inn, Filia looked on to what might have been a battlefield. In the center of the room, there was a large table, usually seating parties of 12 people. However, despite the amount of food and empty plates that would suggest 12 had recently eaten, there were, at the moment, only three seated. One of the occupants, a heavily cloaked man with blue hair and skin, wasn't actually eating much, but rather there just in case an argument broke out between the other two and someone had to intervene. The other two, a short redheaded girl and a tall man with a mane of long blonde hair, were eating enough food to throw a banquet, and then some. Sure enough, as Filia moved to sit down, Lina and Gourry reached for the same drumstick.

"HEY!" Shouted Lina. "That's mine!" "You've eaten more than I have!" argued Gourry. "Besides, you don't need it. It's not like you or any other part of your body is going to be growing any time…OWW!!!" Lina smashed the master-swordsman over the head with her fist as he touched on one of the more delicate subjects. Filia sighed. It was people like Gourry that gave support to the stereotype of dumb-blondes.

"Hi Lina." She said as she sat down "How's the food?" "Pretty good" Muttered Lina, somehow talking despite the constant flow of food into her mouth. Filia's brow knitted. "Is…he alright" She asked, indicating Gourry, who was lying face down in a bowl of soup. "Oh sure!" Lina said, "He's pretty much used to it, see?" She smacked him across the side of the head, spilling the soup all over him in the process. "OW! Lina, what was that for?" "See?" Lina smiled at Filia. "If there's nothing in there to be damaged, it can't get damaged."

Her eyes suddenly dropped to the floor. Um…Filia?" "What?" The golden dragon asked. Lina whispered in her ear. "Tail." Filia blushed and quickly pulled it back around her waist, hoping no one had noticed. It had an annoying habit of popping out from under her dress when ever she was angry, something that was happening with alarming frequency now that she kept running into that purple haired demon. "So, you just had an argument with your boyfriend?" Lina teased. Filia turned red, almost losing control of her tail again. "That demon is the cause for my peoples destruction! To even suggest we are…together" She shuddered. "Is unspeakable" Privately to herself, she thought, "Even if he does have a certain charm about…. NO!" She mentally clubbed herself over the head with mace-sama. Imagine the uproar if any of the remaining Gold dragons heard she had feelings for a mazoku. Suddenly she realized that Lina was smiling with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Sure …and I suppose that dreamy eyed look you had there was dreaming about someone else?" "What's that supposed to mean!"? Yelled Filia, losing control over her tail. Luckily, she managed to direct it under the table so no one saw. She was about to continue, but was interrupted as Lina suddenly noticed Gourry, who, while the two girls had been arguing, had helped himself to Lina's food and was now picking his teeth with a bone.

"HEY! That was mine!" The sorceress tackled Gourry to the ground, and proceeded to twist and stretch his face in every direction possible, all the while yelling. Zelgadis sighed, got up, went over to the brawl, and pulled the hotheaded sorceress off of Gourry. Despite Lina's constant thrashing around to get at Gourry, Zelgadis held her suspended in mid-air as Gourry got up. The Chimera was a lot stronger than he seemed, due to both his demon and Golem parts. Filia sighed and got up. "Zelgadis, I'm going for a walk. See if you can prevent her from blowing up the inn." Zelgadis nodded and rolled his eyes as he held the struggling redhead captive.

Filia walked out of the dining room, grabbing a heavier cloak on the way. She stepped out of the now ruined doorway, making a mental note that one of them would have to pay for that. "Oh miss Filia!" She heard a cheery voice ring out. Amelia came running towards her. However, of course, her being the clumsiest character in slayers aside from Martina , she hit a patch of ice and went skidding towards Filia, arms flailing. Filia caught the young princess, steadying her before she let go. "Oh, thank you miss Filia!" Exclaimed Amelia. "You're a lot nicer than mister Xelloss…he just moved out of the way when I did that." "Xelloss?" Asked Filia, raising her eyebrows. "Yes" replied Amelia. "I was talking to him about how wonderful this time of the year is, and then I asked him what he usually does during this time, and he did his little finger and "that's a secret" thing. He always seems to run off when I start talking about how wonderful things are…" she said. But Filia wasn't listening anymore. Xelloss. . . in a little town like this. . . that was a recipe for trouble. "I should probably find him then." Said Filia. "Knowing him, he's up to something"

Sure enough, Filia found Xelloss up to no good. The demon was teleporting from rooftop to rooftop, using his magic to cause the snow on them to slide off, burying anyone unlucky enough to be walking nearby. His aim and timing was unnervingly good. "Alright you pile of garbage, get down here now!" Filia shouted up to the grinning mazoku. In a split second, Xelloss had teleported right in front of her. "What, can't a guy have a little fun? No? So, if I'm not allowed to have fun up there, can I have fun down here?" "What?" Asked Filia, confused. With that, Xelloss was now sneaking around, looking under women's skirts, knocking off hats, tying shoes together, and always teleporting away as the victim turned around. Soon, everyone was accusing everyone else, turning the street into one big argument. Xelloss appeared next to Filia with his characteristic closed eyes smile "Ah, the holidays are so much fun" he joked.

Filia had had it. "Alright you Namagomi!" she yelled, causing Xelloss to twitch slightly "that's enough! Don't make me blow you away here and now!" she threatened. Even demons could be harmed by an enraged dragon. "You'd actually turn into a dragon here in the middle of the square?" asked Xelloss "you'd risk the lives of everyone else just to get at me?" Then he went on with a grin "Ah yes, that's the dragons for you. Always using their superior strength to get what they want." At this, Filia's tail shot out and she almost pulled out mace-sama. Luckily everyone was still busy arguing, so no one noticed that the blonde haired priestess had suddenly sprouted a tail. Just as she was about to smash him across the horizon, she realized what he was doing.

"No" she said to herself "I must remain calm…to let myself get out of control is just what namagomi-san wants…I am a golden dragon, I must be serene, polite…" She murmured, sipping tea at her port-a-table (the one she seems to tote around everywhere with a complete tea set, where does she keep it all?) and curling her tail back under her dress. Xelloss just smiled. This was exactly what he'd been hoping would happen. He knew her. Whenever she came that close to losing it, it only took just a little bit more provocation to get her going. And when she lost it. . .well, this wouldn't be the first town to be ravaged by a crazed golden dragon. This was one of the reasons he followed her around. The sheer terror emanating from a village as a dragon rampaged through it was so delightful to savor. Now all he had to do was to push the right buttons.

"So you're being good now, are you?" he said, kneeling down at the table, much to her dismay. "Or have you just lost your touch?" She twitched slightly. "I mean, I destroyed your entire race, and yet you let me stand here untouched" She slammed the teacup down, trembling as she tried to control herself. "So, you're afraid now, yes that must be it. I suppose you know that you're no match for a Mazoku." Her tail shot out, actually hitting a passerby in the head and knocking them over. He opened his eyes. "Yep. So much for the golden dragon. I guess you're just another cowardly cold blooded lizard." "AIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!" Filia shrieked, the stone at her neck glowing. As her clothes disappeared, somewhere inside her head her sane self was weeping over the fact that she was naked in the middle of a crowded square. But she didn't care. This demon was going to pay. How dare he insult her race like that? Her? WEAK? COWARDLY? She was about to show him what a golden dragon could do.

As she turned into her true form, she heard screams and yells of fright and terror as a dragon suddenly appeared in the middle of a crowded square. "Where are you Xelloss!!" she bellowed, and then spotted him standing on a rooftop on the other side of the square. His eyes were open, a dangerous smile on his face. He was clearly enjoying the raw emotions of fear coming from the town. Filia roared and fired a bolt of high-powered energy from her mouth. Xelloss suddenly realized that he was about to become a target, and immediately flew into the air so that the energy bolt missed and instead turned several buildings in its way into kindling material. Filia leaped into the air and the sky above the town was soon a fireworks display as he proved to be an extremely difficult target for Filia to hit. Finally, he flew straight beneath her, and as she fired, he teleported to places unknown. The bolt slammed into the ground in the middle of a street, producing quite a large crater in what used to be a marketplace.

As she realized that Xelloss was no-where to be seen, she came back to her senses, suddenly realizing the crater and the row of buildings that her first shot had turned into matchsticks. A sick feeling descended into her stomach, and as she landed in a forest outside the town and turned back into humanoid form, she broke down into tears. This was all her fault. Why did she always lose her temper? Maybe that stupid demon was right. Maybe dragons were no more than a race who used brute strength to accomplish their means.

"Don't worry about it." A familiar voice said, startling Filia out of her self-pity. She whipped around with mace-sama out, only to see Lina and the rest of the group (except Xelloss, who was cracking up with laughter in his own dimension), of which Gourry was still chomping on a drumstick from the inn. "But Lina" lamented Filia. "I almost destroyed another town…I probably killed people! And to top it off, I was naked in the middle of a crowded street!" She broke down into tears again. Lina sighed and put an arm around her. "Really. That Xelloss gets on all our nerves. Besides" she said with a slightly sheepish look. "I've probably obliterated more towns with the Dragon-slave than you have in dragon form, and I'm only 16." Filia thought about it and said, "Maybe, but that still gives me no excuse!" "I know, but still" Lina said, suddenly looking cheerful "the best part is no one knows who we are so we can get away with it!" Causing Filia to fall flat on her face. "But shouldn't we at least try to repair the damage we caused, or heal the wounded?" Fillia wept as she got back up. Lina sighed and directed Filia to the edge of the forest. "Three reasons I say no" the sorceress explained. "One, look at the town. You honestly think that we can pay for all that damage? Especially since mush for brains over here wouldn't pay for dinner?" Lina glared at Gourry who was clueless to anything that was going on. "Second reason. See all those torches?" Filia looked and sure enough, a very large group of people was leaving the town with torches, pitch forks, and all manner of sharp objects. "I don't know about you, but if you remember the last time people found you were a dragon…be my guest if you want to repeat that experience." Filia shuddered. That was one of the most painful memories she had…not only had she destroyed the town, but that was also the first time that she'd transformed in front of so many mortals. Half the blood on the ground afterwards was from the nosebleeds that all the males present had spouted. "And my third reason" continued Lina. "I hear there's another town just a few miles down the road that's famous for roast turkey. Lets go!" She, Gourry and Amelia then started off at a run arguing over who would get the drumsticks, leaving an astonished Filia behind with Zelgadis. As he helped her to her feet, she asked, "How to you live with them?" Zelgadis just sighed and said, "If I didn't come, those two would drive Amelia nuts. Now, I suggest we catch up so that they don't give the cook a heart attack."


	3. Zelgadis

Disclaimer: I don't own slayers, etc. blah blah blah

Again, sorry, been busy at school, also had horrible case of writers block. Anyway, please, read and review. I apologize in advance, since due to the nature of the character, this chapter will be more serious than the others.

A Slayers Christmas, Zelgadis

As he watched the battlefield before him, he could only shake his head. It was so pointless. . . how could anyone eat this much for breakfast? Granted, since demons and golems didn't eat much, he had for the most part forgotten the concept of hunger, but recalling his days as a normal human, he couldn't ever remember seeing himself or anyone else consume this much food. Zelgadis sighed as Lina scoffed down another plate of bacon and eggs. Actually, things were going pretty smoothly right now. Unlike both dinners the night before, neither Lina nor Gourry had reached for the same peace of food, so overall, everyone except the chef was at peace. Well, actually, Filia was still getting over what had happened the night before. She was still sobbing upstairs in the room, and still couldn't get her tail under control. Amelia had already left to explore the town they were lodging in right now; she seemed to be the living embodiment of the season. Deciding that the action was winding down at the table, he stood up, checked that his long sword was secured to his belt, and left, trying not to attract glances from other diners. Knowing that girl, she was probably getting herself into more trouble than she was worth.

As he walked outside in the dawning light, he cinched his cloak tighter. He hated being out like this, but it was a relief to get a break from having to baby-sit Lina and Gourry. Suddenly he felt something wet and slightly hard impact his head. His stone skin lessened the blow, but it still caught his attention. He turned around and saw a group of kids preparing snowballs. One of them pointed and laughed "Haha! Why are you wearing a mask mister, it's Christmas, not Halloween! And what's with the makeup?" Zelgadis closed his eyes and mentally calmed himself. Even if he was used to reactions like this, it still got on his nerves. An adult who looked to be the children's mother suddenly appeared and started scolding the boy who had thrown the snowball "Jonny, I told you not to thrown snowballs at strangers! Now get back inside before you catch a cold!" She looked at Zelgadis and started "I'm sorry sir, normally he doesn't act so. . ." she trailed off as she realized what she was looking at. Zelgadis simply stared back. This was the other reaction he usually got, and the one he hated most. Ever since he was tricked into this cursed body, even his own village had alienated him. Ever since that day, his life had never been normal. He'd even almost forgotten the holiday that came during the winter, since he'd never been able to get close to anyone. The woman backed away slowly and then quickly retreated into the house the children had entered. The chimera simply walked on. As much as he hated it, he was used to it by now.

Thankfully, on his way to the market place, no one was really paying attention, so no one really took a second glance at his face. He soon found Amelia, who had joined into a group of carolers. Despite the fact that she was way off key, no one seemed to care, and she wasn't causing any trouble, so he decided to head back to the inn. It was too much to ask for Lina and Gourry not to have gotten into one of their famous arguments, and he didn't want to be run out of this town due to an over reaction on either of their parts. Suddenly he heard a scream. It was faint, and if it hadn't been for his sharp hearing, he probably wouldn't have heard it. It sounded like Amelia. He ran in the direction, down a twisting alley, and came to a dead end. There were three obviously drunken men surrounding a young girl, which although not Amelia, was around the same age. The girl was attempting to get a basket from one of the men, and what looked like a hiking stick was lying on the ground behind one of the men. Suddenly, one of the men noticed Zel and said "Hey, leave us be. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt…" Zel sighed. While it wasn't in his nature to be charitable, he didn't like being threatened, and seeing the helpless girl, what else could he do? "Return the basket to the girl then, if you don't want anyone to get hurt" he said in a low voice, crossing his arms across his chest. "Oh, tough guy are you?" slurred one of the men, who looked as though he weighed about 300 lb. "Lets see how tough you are when you're face down in the snow!" The man bull rushed Zelgadis, drawing back with a fist and aiming right for his face. Zelgadis didn't move. The blow he received would have knocked a normal human out cold. There was a sickening crunch as all four fingers broke and the man fell to the ground clutching his fist. Zelgadis simply lifted the thug up by his shirt, kneed him in the chest (Another crunch as his ribs broke) and threw him to the side. By this time he had passed out from the pain, and the other two had finally taken notice. "Wha…What are you?!" stuttered one of them. "It's not important," replied Zel, drawing his sword. "What is important is that you'd better leave now if you don't want to end up like him." The two didn't waste time. They dropped the basket and ran, completely disregarding their fallen comrade. Zelgadis picked up the basket and gave it to the girl. "Here. You should probably get home before anymore of them come back." "Thank you kind sir…" she said looking up at him. He flinched, waiting for the reaction. But none came. He then saw that her eyes were pale and unfocused, and as she started feeling around on the ground for the stick, he realized that she was blind. She found it and stood up. She looked in the direction of Zel and said, "Sir…I don't mean to be trouble to you, but I don't know where I am. Can you please help me get home?" Zel sighed again. He couldn't just leave her here. "Alright." He said. She didn't have to find out what he was, so it couldn't do any harm.

As they emerged from the alley, Zel noticed a few strange looks in his direction. It must have looked odd, a girl feeling her way through the streets escorted by a chimera. "Um…where is it that you live?" he asked her. "Somewhere near the town temple" she said. "If you get me close I should be able to find my way. By the way…" she said. "This might sound a bit strange but. . . can I feel your face?" Zel's eyes widened. "I want to know what you look like. Since I can't see I find what people look like by touch." Zel was worried now. Not only was there the risk of her cutting herself on his hair, but she'd also find out what he was. "Um. . ." he thought quickly. "I'm wearing a mask against the cold. You wouldn't be able to feel anything," he said as he pulled it up over his face. "Oh. Okay." She replied with a smile. Zel sighed with relief. That was close. As they neared the temple, she seemed to become more alert. "I think I know where we are now… that sounds likethe creakysign hanging from the tavern across the street. It's right across from where my house is." They approached an average looking house. "Please, won't you come in? I'm sure my mom would want to meet you. "What!?" said Zel, but for some reason could not resist being pulled into the house after her.

She guided him into the kitchen, where a middle-aged woman was stirring something in a cauldron over a fire. "Sara? Is that you?" she asked without turning. "Yes Mother. Mom, we have a guest. He rescued me from some drunk men in an alley way." "Is that so?" the woman replied. "Well then, I suppose that deserves a free meal" She turned around and smiled at him "please sir, feel free to take off your cloak and hang it up." When he hesitated Sara said "Please. Let me see what you look like" and pulled the cloak right off of him. She hung it over a chair and was about to reach up when she heard her mother's sharp intake of breath. Zel was stunned for a moment and then started for his cloak "I'm...sorry about this…I should be going." "What's wrong?" asked Sara as her mom went next to her and put her arm around her shoulders protectively. The woman was looking at Zelgadis with a somewhat confused look.

"Look Sara" Sighed Zelgadis. "The reason I didn't want you to touch my face is…I'm not normal. There's something about me that you wouldn't understand." At that moment there was a knock on the door. Zelgadis stayed where he was as Sara and her mother moved to answer it. As they opened the door, a large group of people could be seen outside carrying torches and wielding various sharp objects. A familiar voice said "Alright! Where's the monster?!" Amelia dashed through the door, but tripped over Sara's stick, and fell to the ground with a loud thud. She looked up and with a surprised look asked "Mister Zelgadis, what are you doing here?" "I was about to ask the same thing of you Amelia," replied Zelgadis. "Well" said Amelia. "Someone said they saw a monster following a blind girl into her house. I didn't know it was you!" (Another loud thud as Zelgadis face-vaulted). "Hey, there he is!" Shouted a man who had looked through the doorway. Zelgadis recognized him as one of the men from the alley "Get him!" People started to enter the house when a small voice yelled, "Stop!" Sara stepped in front of the villagers. She turned around and put her hand on Zel's shoulder. Slowly, she felt her way up his neck, pausing as her finger-tips touched the stony plates growing on his face, and lightly brushed over the wiry hair. Zel stood as she felt his face, too stunned to react. As she removed her hands, she turned back to the villagers.

"My fingers tell me that this mans appearance is…different," she said. "But that doesn't matter to me." She continued "He rescued me from thieves in an alley way, and helped me home when I was lost. To you, he may look like a monster, but I know he's not. The real monsters are those who pick on those weaker than they are." She suddenly frowned and said "I know that voice…you're one of the men from the alleyway!" she pointed at the man who had entered the house. He turned to run and suddenly found himself surrounded by angry villagers. "You tried to steal from a harmless little girl!?" said one man, cracking his knuckles. "How dare you!" yelled a woman wielding a rolling pin. Zelgadis was soon forgotten as the villagers dragged the man down to the local jail.

Sara's mother approached Zelgadis. "Sir… I'm sorry for the way I reacted earlier. I should be grateful to anyone who helped my daughter. Please, stay for dinner won't you?" "Oh yeah!" said Amelia "I was looking for you when I heard about the monster. Since Lina and Gourry have eaten all the food at the inn, she said we're moving to the next village. She was going to leave without you, but I convinced her otherwise (Flashback of Amelia giving one of her truth-and-justice speeches, Lina groaning and telling her to hurry up just so she would stop preaching)." "I'm sorry," said Zelgadis, looking at Sara and her mother. "I have to leave. It seems that my companions are leaving town without me." "Well then" smiled Sara "anytime you're in town again, please feel free to pay us a visit." Zelgadis smiled slightly. "Maybe"

As they walked down the street, Amelia was in her normal cheery mood. "Well, that actually turned out pretty well didn't it?" Zelgadis shrugged. "I don't know. With the exception of Sara and her mother, everyone still thinks I'm a monster." "Aww, mister Zelgadis, that's not true." Amelia said with a smile. "I know you're not a monster. By the way, while I was in the market place today, I picked up your Christmas present. I hope you'll like it!" She then looked at the town clock and said "Hey, we're late! Race you to the inn!" The young princess jumped into the air with the assistance of her magic and started hopping from building to building, surprisingly without falling. Zelgadis stood alone on the street. He had been getting a strange feeling lately, though he didn't know what it was. He usually got it when Amelia was around, and right now it was stronger than ever. The chimera suddenly realized that Amelia had left his sight, and hurried to catch up. Her luck jumping from building to building probably wasn't going to hold out for long.


End file.
